of the last old time radio shows to give way to television's growing popularity. A total of 314 original episodes were broadcast from 1949 through 1957. In fact, the TV show proved to be a visual version of the radio show, as the style was virtually the same [including the scripts, as the majority were adapted from radio]. The TV show could be listened to without watching, with no loss of understanding of the storyline. The radio show was also adapted into a comic strip by Mel Keefer. "Just the facts, ma'am" While "Just the facts, ma'am" is known as Dragnet'''s catchphrase (it has been parodied many times by other productions), that precise phrase was never actually uttered by Joe Friday. The closest lines were "All we want are the facts, ma'am" and "All we know are the facts, ma'am". The "Just the facts, ma'am" phrase did appear in the parody St. George and the Dragonet, a 1953 short audio satire by Stan Freberg. The phrase was spoken by Ben Alexander in a 1966 cameo appearance on Batman. The phrase was used in the film L.A. Confidential, a reference to Badge of Honor, a fictitious TV show similar to Dragnet. Main cast Jack Webb as Los Angeles Police Department (L.A.P.D) Detective Sergeant Joseph "Joe" Friday Barton Yarborough as Friday's partner, Los Angeles Police Department (L.A.P.D) Sergeant Benjamin "Ben" Romero (1949–1951) Martin Milner/Ken Peters as Friday's partner Los Angeles Police Department (L.A.P.D.) Detective William "Bill" Lockwood (1951) Barney Phillips as Friday's partner, Los Angeles Police Department (L.A.P.D) Sergeant Edward "Ed" Jacobs (1952) Harry Bartell/Herb Ellis/Vic Perrin/Ben Alexander as Friday's longest serving partner in the entire franchise, Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Officer Franklin "Frank" Smith (1952–1959) (Ellis also played Smith in five episodes of the TV series, before being replaced by Alexander, who reprised his role alongside Webb for both the 1954 film and in most of the episodes of the original 1951 television show) Charles McGraw/Raymond Burr as Los Angeles Police Department (L.A.P.D.) Chief of Detectives Ed Backstrand. (ep 1–28) Tol Avery as Los Angeles Police Department (L.A.P.D.) Chief of Detectives Thaddeus "Thad" Franklin Brown (ep 29+) Herb Butterfield as Los Angeles Police Department (L.A.P.D.) Scientific Investigation Division (S.I.D) Crime lab technician Lieutenant Leland "Lee" Jones/Various Olan Soule as Los Angeles Police Department (L.A.P.D.) Scientific Investigation Division (S.I.D) Crime lab technician Raymond "Ray" Pinker. Peggy Webber as Ma Friday, Joe's